After taking the series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from May 19-21, the New York Mets were hoping they could take advantage of two weak teams in the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates. Both teams were in last place in their respective divisions, giving the Mets the perfect opportunity to make strides in the right direction before their schedule gets tougher in June.

The Mets dropped two to the Padres at home and took the series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, giving them a .500 record for the week at 3-3.

The team also welcomed back two of their regulars; catcher Travis d’Arnaud and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera were both activated last week from the disabled list. D’Arnaud had a big game in Saturday’s loss to the Pirates, going 3-for-5 with a home run, double, and two RBI. He’s now tied for fifth all-time among Mets catchers with 35 home runs, matching Jerry Grote.

The Mets have a seven-game home stand starting Memorial Day with the Brewers for four, followed by a rematch with the Pirates for three over the weekend at Citi Field.

As always, here are your MMO Players of the Week for May 22-29.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LUCAS DUDA

Lucas Duda earns MMO’s Player of the Week for May 22-29, after going 11-for-27 (.407) with four doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, four walks, and six runs scored.

Duda reached base in all six games this past week, and had multiple hit games in four of the six, including a 3-for-4 game Tuesday against the Padres, where Duda had a two-run double and run scoring single in the seventh. The double in the first inning was Duda’s 130th of his career, which tied Rusty Staub for 18th all-time in Mets history. He passed Staub in the opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and sits alone at 17th all-time with 133 prior to Monday’s game.

Duda did his best to get the Mets back into the game Thursday against the Padres, where he got the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the second. He also drove in another run in the seventh with a single to center, cutting the Padres lead to one run.

On Sunday, Duda also moved up on the Mets career list for RBIs, tying Grote for 17th  with 357.

His .978 OPS prior to Tuesday’s game is eighth best among all first baseman in baseball.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: JACOB deGROM

Jacob deGrom once again earns MMO Pitcher of the Week, after tossing one of his best games of the season on Friday.

DeGrom pitched a season high 8 1/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing one earned run on six hits, one walk, and 10 strikeouts — his fifth multi-strikeout game this season.

The Mets were in desperate need of some bullpen relief entering the series against the Pirates, having used four different relievers on Tuesday, five on Wednesday, and three Thursday. And once again, deGrom acted like an ace and stepped up Friday night, tossing a season high 118 pitches (80 for strikes). The 118 pitches were the second most pitches deGrom has thrown in a regular season game, as he tossed 122 in his third big league start which was also on May 26 and against the Pirates.

The only mistake deGrom made in Friday’s start was serving up a solo home run to Gregory Polanco, which was the only extra-base hit he allowed on the night.

DeGrom is currently second in the National League in strikeouts with 86, behind only Washington Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer (89). He’s only two strikeouts away from tying Steve Trachsel (580) for the 16th most strikeouts in Mets history.

Another interesting note: Tom Seaver has the most strikeouts in a season for the Mets, his 1971 season with 289. In his first ten starts of that season, The Franchise had 82 strikeouts. deGrom has 86 through his first ten starts.